Following the furor at the Coordination Committee meeting at Puri on Sunday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has roped in Suresh Chandra Mohapatra to manage Rath Yatra affairs.
Mohapatra, Principal Secretary Water Resources, has rich experience in handling affairs of the Trinity as he was a former District Magistrate of Puri and former Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration. He was appointed as the Special Officer for the Car Festival event.
Mohapatra would look after all the aspects of the Car Festival which turned controversial over whether or not devotees should be allowed to climb the chariots.
Mohapatra, sources said, would now coordinate with the agitating Daitapati priests who play a crucial role during the Rath Jatra. The Daitapatis are angry over Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati’s decision of banning devotees from mounting the chariots and touching the Trinity.
Since Daitapatis used to earn their livelihood for a year from their duties during Rath Jatra, they feel that not allowing devotees to climb Raths would stop their earning. However, Shankaracharya and the Gajapati King of Puri Dibyasingha Deb and 35 Nijogs do not go by the Daitapatis.
Even the Odisha High Court in its order has said Shankaracharya is the authority to take a final call on the rituals and traditions of the Shree Jagannath Temple.
Therefore, Daitapatis and rest of the priests and administration are at loggerheads ahead of the Rath Yatra, which may lead to a tense situation ahead during the festival.
The anger among the Daitapati’s came to the fore in presence of the Chief Minister at the coordination committee meeting on June 22 at Puri.
Under such circumstances, the Chief Minister put his trust on the ability of the soft-spoken and hardworking Mohapatra, who has one-to-one relationship with each Daitapati and priest of the 12th century shrine.
Besides Mohapatra, sources said, the State Government has also put its trust on Aravind Kumar Padhee, Chief Administrator of the shrine administration and would like to put a few veterans in place to ensure smooth conduct of the festival. The fest is likely to draw a crowd of above 10 lakh people.
Sanjeev Marik, Special DGP, who knows ins and outs of the Rath Yatra has been kept in charge of law and order arrangements and Saumendra Priyadarshi, IGP Operations, will also be aiding the force.
Apart from IGP Central Range RP Koche, IGP Modernisation and former SP Sanjeeb Kumar Panda will be looking after the affairs and helping the SP Puri, Anup Kumar Sahoo.
“As there is possibility of some priests creating problem when Shankaracharya and Gajapati king climb the chariots to perform certain rituals before pulling of chariots, the Government must take steps to avoid any untoward incident. Therefore, an able top cop should be put in charge of chariots,” said a senior former administrator.
This apart, Director General of Police (DGP) Prakash Mishra also needs to remain present on the chariots as he is also respected by the priests.
Besides Mohapatra, Special DGP Marik and DGP Mishra, the State Government should chose certain other few officers having wide experience in crowd management and smooth passage of chariots.